The History of Archaeology Part 1 - The First Archaeologists

The History of Archaeology Part 1 - The First Archaeologists The history of archaeology as a study of the ancient past has its beginnings at least as early as the Mediterranean Bronze Age. Archaeology as a scientific study is only about 150 years old. Interest in the past, however, is much older than that. If you stretch the definition enough, probably the earliest probe into the past was during New Kingdom Egypt [ca 1550-1070 BC], when the pharaohs excavated and reconstructed the Sphinx, itself originally built during the 4th Dynasty [Old Kingdom, 2575-2134 BC] for the Pharaoh Khafre. There are no written records to support the excavationso we dont know which of the New Kingdom pharaohs asked for the Sphinx to be restoredbut physical evidence of the reconstruction exists, and there are ivory carvings from earlier periods that indicate the Sphinx was buried in sand up to its head and shoulders before the New Kingdom excavations. The First Archaeologist Tradition has it that the first recorded archaeological dig was operated by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon who ruled between 555-539 BC. Nabonidus contribution to the science of the past is the unearthing of the foundation stone of a building dedicated to Naram-Sin, the grandson of the Akkadian king Sargon the Great. Nabonidus overestimated the age of the building foundation by 1,500 yearsNaram Sim lived about 2250 BC, but, heck, it was the middle of the 6th century BC: there were no radiocarbon dates.  Nabonidus was, frankly, deranged (an object lesson for many an archaeologist of the present), and Babylon was eventually conquered by Cyrus the Great, founder of Persepolis and the Persian empire. Excavating Pompeii and Herculaneum Most of the early excavations were either religious crusades of one sort or another, or treasure hunting by and for elite rulers, pretty consistently right up until the second study of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The original excavations at Herculaneum were simply treasure-hunting, and in the early decades of the 18th century, some of the intact remains covered by nearly 60 feet of volcanic ash and mud 1500 years before were destroyed in an attempt to find the good stuff. But, in 1738, Charles of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies and founder of the House of Bourbon, hired antiquarian Marcello Venuti to reopen the shafts at Herculaneum. Venuti supervised the excavations, translated the inscriptions, and proved that the site was indeed, Herculaneum. Charles of Bourbon is also known for his palace, the Palazzo Reale in Caserta. And thus was archaeology born. Sources A bibliography of the history of archaeology has been assembled for this project. History of Archaeology: The Series Part 1: The First Archaeologists  - You are here Part 2: The Effects of the Enlightenment Part 3: Is the Bible Fact or Fiction? Part 4: The Astounding Effects of Orderly Men Part 5: The Five Pillars of Archaeological Method Bibliography